Band of Demons (The Sanheim Chronicles, Book Two) by Rob Blackwell Page A

feeling I’ve ever known, and I’m sharing it with the person I love most in the world. Why would I possibly fight it?”
    “When you put it that way…”
    “Look, I see your point of view,” she said. “We’re in danger of losing ourselves. Whatever powers we have seem to be controlling us at least as much as we control them. But so what? It’s so much better—so much easier—when we just let them take over.”
    She wasn’t looking at him, but her hand was now caressing his arm.
    “But what happens when we aren’t ourselves anymore, Kate?”
    “That won’t happen,” she said.
    “How can you be so sure? I’m wondering how many limits we’ll be willing to cross before we realize we have none left.”
    “Honey,” Kate said, and she turned over on her side and put her hand on his chest. “Left to myself, I don’t know. When I’m with you—when we’re like this—I feel like every burden I’ve ever known is gone. It’s like nothing else matters.”
    “And I should remind you there are plenty of other things we should be discussing right now,” he said.
    “That’s just my point. When I drove here, I was scared, nervous, worried. Now, I’m none of those things. All I want is to be with you. I could let myself go entirely, you know. I don’t need to tell you I carry around a lot of baggage every day. But when I’m like this, for the first time in my life, I feel free.”
    “But what…”
    She put her finger to his lips. A wind blew through the trees and he shuddered. She moved his face toward hers.
    “Let me finish,” she said. “I told you, I might let myself go. There are still a lot of things I’m trying to run away from. But you’re my anchor, my harbor. I know that no matter how far I’m willing to go, you will always be there to pull me back. To make sure we don’t do something crazy.”
    “Like have sex in broad daylight in the middle of a cemetery on a work day?” he asked.
    “Well, before the day is done, it’s going to be having sex repeatedly in broad daylight in a cemetery,” she replied, “but that wasn’t what I was talking about.”
    Quinn’s blood was racing again. The sense of current was stirring. He was trying to focus on something—anything—but her naked body.
    “You might want to talk quickly,” he said.
    “Your job is to balance us out, but my job is to push this as far as we can. The old rules don’t apply to us anymore.”
    “What if someone showed up? What if the caretaker or a family member…”
    “Who cares, Quinn? I know there are limits and I know you will make sure we don’t cross them. But this… this isn’t one of them.”
    She rolled on top of him and started kissing him again.
    They had so much to talk about, so much they needed to find out. Even now, he knew they were running out of time. But in the end, he let go and followed his heart’s desire.
    He wasn’t sure he was wrong to do so. When a storm is coming, you can’t always outrun it. You just have to enjoy the few peaceful moments left. 

Chapter 7
     
     
    Kate was uncharacteristically silent on their ride home. Quinn tried to see into her mind only to find it blocked.
    “What’s up?” he asked. “You still mad at me?”
    “I’m mad at Tim,” she replied. “I’m just angry you apologized.”
    “He was right and you know it,” Quinn replied. “We disappeared for a chunk of the day. I didn’t even file my story on Zora until 3 p.m. It wasn’t professional.”
    “It was fun, though,” Kate said.
    She knew she should let it go. Tim was fuming when they returned to the office, closing his office door behind them and demanding to know where they’d been and why they hadn’t responded to their cell phones. Quinn had been immediately apologetic, but Kate…
    Kate had been angry and unable to understand why. By any objective measure, Tim was right. But she felt like he had ruined a perfect celebratory moment for them. They should be out enjoying their new powers,